If you're not apposed to running a program, you could leave the fan plugged in to the gpu and use MSI Afterburner. It allows you to set a graph of fan speed to temperature that works really well for me. It can also be used for overclocking if you're into that sort of thing.

and evga precision x, basically the same programs... they both alter video card in more than just clock rates.msi afterburner has been my program for altering the fan curve, pretty sure even speedfan should be able to do that, i've got that program controlling my cpu fan's

I also use afterburner for my evga SC 560ti SLI setup....30% is as low as they will go but they use a single 92mm fan that are pretty dang quiet and seem well designed.... Until I game. I have a over aggressive Fan Profile and wear usb G930 headphones when gaming. Putting them on alone drowns 30db of noise up I sometimes put them on just to drown out the TV noise when i am trying to get to sleep with the wife watching TV. They are very comfortable. I see so many people saying USB sound is a horrible experience. I have nothing but praise for these headphones, they sound fantastic, simulate surround very well for Movies and Games. Bass could be a bit better at high volumes...too loud and they will distort, they only have 40mm drivers...I wish they used 50mm!! Battery life is a good 10Hrs. Range is pretty dang good as they work throughout my whole house, even with the receiver in my upstairs bedroom they work in the basement of my 2 story single home. Plus it real easy to plug them into any of my PCs and use them quickly. Just wish they would work with my stand alone bluray player.

I also use Speedfan on all of my PC's to monitor temps and control my 2 HTPC chassis and cpu fans. My gaming rig i use a 5 channel fan controller.

My I3 2120 with a hd7750 setup has been in the closet up on a ledge with a small hole penetrating the wall to run all 7 of my cables to the computer and the TV box, Bluray player and TV power cable. My 55" tv is on a wall mount that sits flush to wall or will pull off wall 30" and adjusts in every imaginable way. 30" closer is awesome for movie night ..especially for 3D movies since it reaches my toes when we lay in bed. Very Immersive

Last edited by vargis14 on Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lazy_boy each pin on the fan connector does something: one is for power, one is for ground, one is for recording the fan's speed, and one is for something else, probably something to do with controlling the fan's speed. To go from the 4 to 3 pin, you will lose the functionality of that fourth pin, which might matter. If it doesn't, I think you can just use a regular 3pin extender cable and just ignore the fourth pin. Just make sure that you choose the right 3 pins and that they go where they're supposed to go.

It isn't the software that is subpar if your fan is still loud at 25%, it's your HSF.

QFT

Congratulations, you've noticed that this year's signature is based on outdated internet memes; CLICK HERE NOW to experience this unforgettable phenomenon. This sentence is just filler and as irrelevant as my signature.

Just an additional note on those software solutions: they're sub-par. EVGA Precision-X won't let me set the fan speed below 25%. The problem there is that 25% is still frigging loud.

It isn't the software that is subpar if your fan is still loud at 25%, it's your HSF.

I don't really care which it is. It's EVGA's heatsink and EVGA's software. Meanwhile, the heatsink itself seems to be doing the job just fine. The temps are plenty low. The problem isn't temperatures, but the fact that the fan either cannot be spun slower or will not be allowed to.

If, on the other hand, you're talking about the /fan/ and not the whole heatsink, then maybe so, but any fan can be quiet if spun slowly enough.

I would hesitate to run your GPU fan from a fan controller for a variety of reasons...but first and foremost I have a question: how do you plan on keeping temperatures in check given you can't monitor the GPU core temp with your fan controller? Manual control is a recipe for disaster.

Just an additional note on those software solutions: they're sub-par. EVGA Precision-X won't let me set the fan speed below 25%. The problem there is that 25% is still frigging loud.

It isn't the software that is subpar if your fan is still loud at 25%, it's your HSF.

I don't really care which it is. It's EVGA's heatsink and EVGA's software. Meanwhile, the heatsink itself seems to be doing the job just fine. The temps are plenty low. The problem isn't temperatures, but the fact that the fan either cannot be spun slower or will not be allowed to.

If, on the other hand, you're talking about the /fan/ and not the whole heatsink, then maybe so, but any fan can be quiet if spun slowly enough.

No I do mean the whole HSF since heatsinks are designed with a particular characteristics of a fan in mind. Keep in mind that many fans will simply refuse to spin at slower rates.

No I do mean the whole HSF since heatsinks are designed with a particular characteristics of a fan in mind. Keep in mind that many fans will simply refuse to spin at slower rates.

Which would, again, have everything to do with the fan and nothing to do with the chunk of aluminum it's attached to. But, whatev, if you want to pick imaginary nits, have at it

Unless said design requires a minimum amount of flow over the VRMs, etc, to stay stable.

It's a very true and valid point, but a different conversation. You're talking about the effects of slowing a fan down. I'm talking about the ability of software solutions or of the fan design itself to do so. I imagine for a card like a GTX 680 your cautionary reminder is very applicable.

It's a very true and valid point, but a different conversation. You're talking about the effects of slowing a fan down. I'm talking about the ability of software solutions or of the fan design itself to do so. I imagine for a card like a GTX 680 your cautionary reminder is very applicable.

Well yes.

I was more trying to point out that slowing a fan below the minimum set by software (or firmware) may be okay in terms of GPU temps but the rest of the card may overheat. The minimum may be more of a design...ahem..."feature" than an inability of the fan itself to spin slower.

I would be very surprised if the blower-style fans seen on many GPUs could run at very slow rates without issue. The card, however, may not be so happy.

I know the last thing I would have wanted to do on my old 4870X2 or 5970 would be to slow down the fans. Sure, both were noisy (till I watercooled them), but the prospect of blowing up a card that already was on the edge in terms of VRM cooling wasn't very appealing. New cards are much better in that department (VRM cooling) but I still would be wary of trying to run a card below the minimum allowed fan speed without some kind of temperature monitoring for the GPUs and VRMs.